Container holding bracket

ABSTRACT

A bracket for holding a container. The bracket has a bottom shelf upon which the container is supported. The shelf has a horizontal portion which supports the bottom rim of the container and an outer distal end which extends upwardly to engage the bottom wall of the container. The shelf is integrally connected to a vertical wall which projects outwardly and has apertures thereon for receiving fasteners for the mounting of the bracket. The top portion of the bracket is provided with a recess to grippingly receive the handle of the container.

UnitetlStates Patent n91 Barts CONTAINER HOLDING BRACKET [75] Inventor: R. Richard Barts, Huntington, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Huntington Laboratories, Inc.,

- Huntington, Ind.

22 Filed: Oct. 5, 1972 [21] Appl.No.: 295,148

[52] US. Cl. 248/311, 211/72 {51] Int. Cl A47k 1/08' [58] Field of Search... 248/309, 310, 311, 312, 314, 248/203; 211/71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 88

4/1886 Chuala 248/310 X [451 Feb. 26 1974 3/1937 Barbour .(211/75 UX Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodard, Weikart, Em-

.hardt & Naughton [57 1 ABSTRACT A bracket for holding a container. The bracket has a bottom shelf upon which" the container is supported. The shelf has a horizontal'portion which supports the I bottom rim of the container and an outer distal end which extends upwardly to engage the bottom wall of the container. The shelf is integrally connected to a vertical wall which projects outwardly and has apertures thereon for receiving fasteners for the mounting of the bracket. The top portion of the bracket is provided with a recess to grippingly receive the handle of the container.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures l CONTAINER HOLDING BRACKET BACKGROUNDjOF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention is in.the field of brackets containers.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many types of brackets have heretofore been proposed for use particularly in supporting various items such as containers. A representative sample of the prior art is disclosed in the following US. Patents:

2,302,170 issued to Basle'r 3,627,248 issued to Nelson 3,278,148 issued to Denaro 3,652,049 issued to McCown 3,666,223 issued to Moore None of the prior art brackets have been designed for holding specifically for holding one of the new containers which are typically produced from plastic and which have hollow thin-walled handles which are integrally formed into the main body of the container. Disclosed herein is such a bracket which has been designed specifically for this type of container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 1 One embodiment of the present invention is a bracket for-holding a container which has a bottom wall, a lower rim surrounding the wall and a handle, the I bracket comprising a main body having a lower shelf including a horizontal portion upon which the rim rests and an upwardly turned distal end abutting the bottom wall, the main body further having a middle portion integrally connected to the shelf and projecting outwardly away from the shelf, the middle portion having apertures through which fasteners may extend to secure'the bracket to a wall, the main body further including a top portion integrally connected to the middle portion, the top portion has a recess for receiving the handle, the recess having an entrance slot which is narrower than the recess.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bracket for holding a container.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bracket for holding a container having a hollow thin-walled handle formed in the main body of the containerby simultaneously supporting the bottom wall of the container while gripping the handle of the container.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bracket incorporating the present invention shown with a container mounted thereon.

FIG. 2 is the same view as FIG. 1 only with the con.- tainer removed from the bracket.

FIG. 3 is a top view looking in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the'invention relates.

' Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a bracket 10 for holding a container 12. Container 12 is conventional. and is typically produced from plastic. Container 12 is available in a variety 'of sizes and particularly in the one gallon size. Inte grally attached to the main body of container 12 is a hollow thin-walled handle 13. A liquid dispenser 14 is which abuts bottom wall 15 of the container. The main body of the bracket further has a middleportion 20 which includesthree vertical walls 21, 22 and 23. Wall 21 is perpendicularly and integrally joined to horizontal wall 18. Wall 23 integrally joins vertical walls 22 and 21 together whereas wall.24 integrally joins walls 22 and 23 together. A plurality of apertures 25 are provided in wall 24 for receiving fasteners inorder to mount-the bracket to a wall. Walls 21 and 23 are in the same vertical plane and provide a vertical seat against which container 12 rests. Walls 23 and 24 diverge from vertical wall 22 and have. respectivelyholes' 26 and 27 which are aligned. Hole 26 is beneath hole 27-. Holes 26 and 27 may be utilized to receive, for example, the rod of dispenser 14 when the dispenser is not mounted to the container and is provided in a stored position.

The top portion 28 of the bracket is integrally joined to the middle portion 20' and is providedwith a recess 29 for receiving handle 13. The recess has an entrance slot 30 which is narrower than recess 29. Recess 29 is circular in configuration and has a diameter which is largerthan the width of slot 30. Handle 13 is shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 3 illustrating that the. length 31 of the cross section of the handle is larger than the width of slot 30 whereas the width 32 of the handle cross section is smaller than the width of slot 30. Thus,

in order to insert the handle into recess 29, the con- Y tainer must be turned so that the width of the cross section of the handle passes through the entrance slot. The container may then be rotated so that the handle is prevented from passing back out through the slot. Top portion 28 slants upwardly from the horizontal and the recess is sized so that the handle is gripped therein by the forward recess edge 33 on one side of the handle and the opposite rear edge 34 of the recess on the opposite side of the handle.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

1. A bracket for holding a container which has a bottom wall, a lower rim surrounding said wall and a handle, said bracket comprising:

a main body having a lower shelf including a horizontal portion upon which said rim rests and an upwardly turned distal end abutting said bottom wall within said rim, said main body further having a middle portion integrally connected to said shelf and projecting outwardly away from said shelf, said middle portion having apertures through which fasteners may extend to secure said bracket to a wall, said main body further includes a top portion integrally connected to said middle portion, said top 1 portion has a recess for receiving said handle, said recess having an entrance slot which is narrower than said recess;

said bracket is in combination with said container which is removably secured to said bracket by said top portion of said bracket, said handle has a rectangular cross section which is defined by a cross sectional width dimension and a cross sectional length dimension greater than said width dimension, said entrance slot is wider than said width dimension but smaller than said length dimension;

said top portion slants upwardly between horizontal and vertical, said recess is sized so said handle is gripped therein by a first recess edge adjacent said further includes a second vertical wall which has said apertures thereon and'is integrally connected to said first vertical wall by a first joining wall, said middle portion further includes a third vertical wall integrally connected to said second wall by a second joining wall and is also integrally connected to said top portion, said first vertical wall and said third vertical wall are in a vertical plane and provide a vertical seat against which said container rests;

said first joining wall and said second joining wall diverge from said second vertical wall, said first joining wall has a first hole and second joining wall has a second hole positioned above and aligned with said first hole, said container including a liquid dispenser stem removable from said container and extendable through said first hole and second hole, said recess is circular in configuration. 3. The bracket of claiml wherein: said first recessed edge is an upper edge on said top portion whereas said second recessed edge is a lower edge on said top portion. 

1. A bracket for holding a container which has a bottom wall, a lower rim surrounding said wall and a handle, said bracket comprising: a main body having a lower shelf including a horizontal portion upon which said rim rests and an upwardly turned distal end abutting said bottom wall within said rim, said main body further having a middle portion integrally connected to said shelf and projecting outwardly away from said shelf, said middle portion having apertures through which fasteners may extend to secure said bracket to a wall, said main body further includes a top portion integrally conNected to said middle portion, said top portion has a recess for receiving said handle, said recess having an entrance slot which is narrower than said recess; said bracket is in combination with said container which is removably secured to said bracket by said top portion of said bracket, said handle has a rectangular cross section which is defined by a cross sectional width dimension and a cross sectional length dimension greater than said width dimension, said entrance slot is wider than said width dimension but smaller than said length dimension; said top portion slants upwardly between horizontal and vertical, said recess is sized so said handle is gripped therein by a first recess edge adjacent said entrance slot and an opposite second recess edge opposite said entrance slot.
 2. The bracket of claim 1 wherein: said middle portion includes a first vertical wall perpendicularly joined to said horizontal wall of said shelf, said middle portion further includes a second vertical wall which has said apertures thereon and is integrally connected to said first vertical wall by a first joining wall, said middle portion further includes a third vertical wall integrally connected to said second wall by a second joining wall and is also integrally connected to said top portion, said first vertical wall and said third vertical wall are in a vertical plane and provide a vertical seat against which said container rests; said first joining wall and said second joining wall diverge from said second vertical wall, said first joining wall has a first hole and second joining wall has a second hole positioned above and aligned with said first hole, said container including a liquid dispenser stem removable from said container and extendable through said first hole and second hole, said recess is circular in configuration.
 3. The bracket of claim 1 wherein: said first recessed edge is an upper edge on said top portion whereas said second recessed edge is a lower edge on said top portion. 